Road rail for concrete pavements and analogous uses



April 29 1924.

M. S.' HOTCHKISS ROAD RAIL FOR CONCRETE PAVEMENTS AND ANALOGOUS USESFiled April 26, 1921 Patented Apr. 29, 1924.

MARK S. HOTGHKISS, F BINGI-IAMTON, NEW YORK.

ROAD RAIL FOR CONCRETE PAVEMENTS AND ANALOG-GUS USES.

Application filed April 26, 1921. Serial No. 464,631.

These road rails are necessarily made in sections preferably of sheetsteel rolled or pressed to the desired form and arranged end to endalong the edges of the proposed pavement for imparting the desiredregularity of finish and also for establishing the desired grade of theupper surfaces of said edges, while the pavement is under construction,it being understood that the upper surface of the adjacentportions ofthe pavement are finished substantially flush with the top faces of theroad-rails along and upon which the surfacing machines are adapted toride, and the main object of my present invention is to provide a light,strong and durable road-rail which may be easily and quickly installedin proper alinement along the edges of the road-bed and which willmaintain its longitudinal and vertical alinement under the variousstrains to which it may be subjected during the construction andfinishing of the pavement.

Another object is to assemble the several sections in such manner thatthey may be easily and quickly removed for reuse when the road-bed orpavement is finished or sufficiently set to be self-supporting.

Otherobjects and uses relating to specific parts of the device will bebrought out in the following description:

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the road-railsembodying the various features of my invention showing also a portion ofthe finished pavement adjacent thereto.

Figs. 2, 8 and 4 are transverse vertical sectional views takenrespectively, on lines as 2-2, 33 and H, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 55, Fig. 1.

The various parts of the road-rail, except the stake, are preferablymade of sheet steel and comprise a series of main lengthwise sections -1of substantially the same cross sectional form and held end to end inlongitudinal and horizontal alinement by suitable coupling plates toform a substantially continuous road-rail of any suitable length, eachof the main sections being substantially L-shaped in cross-section andconsisting of aflat upright portion -2, a base flange -3 and a topflange 4 overhanging the base flange 3 and provided with a pendantlengthwise flange 5- of suflicient vertical height to form anintervening channel 6.

That is, the base and top flanges 3 and 4 are substantially parallel andspaced some distances apart vertically while the pendant flange 5 isparallel with the main upright portion 2 and spaced therefrom to formthe channel 6 previously mentioned, the vertical depth of the pendantflange 5- being relatively narrow as comparedwith the vertical height ofthe rail as a whole, thereby leaving a considerable space between thelower edge of the pendant flange and base flange 3' for the reception ofvarious attachments here inafter described.

The base flanges 3 are substantially flat and are adapted to restdirectly upon the surface of the ground with the upright portions 2facing inwardly to form abutting forms for the adjacent edge of thepavement as A, it being understood that these rails are arranged alongboth sides of the road bed iii-parallelism to form the opposite edgesthereof so that their upper faces may conform to an established grade towhich the surface of the pavement is to be laid.

It, therefore, becomes important to furllO flange forming an integralpart of the coupling plate -7, the vertical width of the main portion-8- being substantially equal to the distance between the base flange -3and top flange -l of the rail-section 1, while the horizontal width ofthe top flange 9- is approximately equal to the distance between themain body 2 and pendant flange 5- of the same section, the flange 10-being of slightly less vertical width than that of the flange In otherwords, the coupling section -7 is adapted to slide lengthwise of andwithin the adjacent ends of the rail section -1jwith the main body 8 inclose juxtaposition to the inner face of the main upright body --2, andtherefore the upper portion of the coupling section 7 is held in placeagainst lateral displacement between the main body -2 and flange 5 ofthe rail-section 1--.

Angular guide brackets 11- and 11 are permanently secured by rivets orother suitable fastening means to the upper faces of the adjacent endsof'the base flange 3- and are provided with Lip-standing flanges 1L"spaced apart from the upright walls 2 a distance corresponding to thethickness of the upright portions 8 of the coupling member 7 to hold thelower portion of said coupling plate against lateral movement relativelyto the rail-sec tion -1 and also to form a guide groove 12 in which thelower edge of the coupling plate is slidable. e

The flanges 3, -&-- and 5 of the rail-section -1- not only function asground supports for holding the rail in an upright position and forretaining and guiding the coupling member 7, but also add greatly to thestrength of the railsection and permit the use of comparatively lightsheet metal which renders the sections easily portable and enables themto be easily and quickly installed in place for defining the marginaledges of the concrete pavement and permits them to be expeditiouslyremoved or stripped from the concrete when the latter is set or thepavement finished, and reused in theconstruction of other parts of thesame pavement or other pavements.

The flanges 9- and -10 of thecoupling member 7 also serve to stiffensaid coupling member against buckling and to additionally support thetop flange -4 of the rail-section -1- to resist the weight of thesurfacing machine in traveling along the rail during the surfacefinishing of the road-bed, although the main function of said couplingplate is to support the meeting ends of the rail-sections againstrelatively vertical or lateral movement under the strains to which therails are subjected.

The opposite end edges of each of the coupling plates 7- are providedwith out-turned flanges 13 and 1tfor reinforcing purposes and also toprovide means whereby the plates may be moved endwise to and from aposition across the joints between the rail-sections, said flanges alsoconstituting stops for engaging opposite upright edges of the flange l1-and thereby preventing endwise displacement of the coupling member fromthe railsection to which the angle plate 11- is secured. v

The distance between the flanges 13 and 14cis sufficient to allow thecoupling plate 7 to be adjusted endwise, substantially one-half itslength beyond the end face of the rail-section upon which it is mountedfor over-lapping interlocking engagement with the end of the nextadjacent rail section or it may be adjusted in a reverse direction asuflicient distance to withdraw it entirely from said adjacentrailsection or within the end face of. the railsection in which it ismovable.

In order that the coupling member 7- may be adjusted to over-lap uponthe adjacent ends of both rail-sections, the lower portion of the flange14 is cut away, while the up-standing flange of the angleplate 1l ispreferably of less vertical height than the up-standing part of theangle-plate -11 which permits the flange --l l: to move across the upperedge of the up-standing flange of part 1l as shown at the right-hand ofFigure 1.

The intermediate portions of the base flange 3 and top flange 4 of eachrail-section may be additionally braced against relative movement by oneor more brace plates 1 5, Figures 1 and 3, each brace plate consistingof a substantially flat upright 16 and oppositely projecting hbrizontalflanges -l7- and 18, the main body 16 being of substantially the samevertical height as the distance be-V tween the base flange 8f and topflange -l, while the flange 18- is of substantially the same width asthe distance between the main body and flange 5 to lie flatwise againstthe underside of the top flange 4, the bottom flange -17 lying flatwiseagainst the upper face of the base flange -3- and is secured thereto byrivets or other suitable fastening means.

The upright portion 16 of the brace plate -15 is spaced apart fromftheupright portion 2 of the rail-section in parallelism therewith and issecured by bolts or other suitable fastening means to the inner face ofthe flange 5--, thereby form ing a permanent part of the rail to supportthe top flange 5 against depression by the weight of the surfacingmachine which may ride thereon in finishing the surface of the pavement.

Suitable means is provided for holding the rails against lateral orlengthwise displacement upon the surface of the ground,

and for this purpose each of the rail-sections are provided with one ormore substantially U-shaped brackets 19 having transversely elongatedvertical alined openings 19 for receiving a stake 20 which is passedthrough said openings and driven into the ground a sufficient distanceto firmly hold it in place against lateral movement and to which thebracket is locked by a wedge-shaped locking member 21.

The U-shaped bracket 19 is disposed in an upright position with itsopposite arms in which the stake openings 19 are formed, disposed insubstantially parallel horizontal planes, the inner ends of said armsbeing provided with oppositely turned flanges 22 and 23 which arepermanently secured by rivets or other suitable fastening means to aninner guide plate 24r, the upper flange 23 being provided with aninwardly offset flange 25 resting flat-wise against the inner face ofthe top flange 4 of the rail-section 1, while the lower edge of theguide plate 24 is provided with an out-turned flange 26 secured bysuitable bolts or rivets to the base flange 3 of said rail-section.

The intermediate portion of the guide plate '-24 is spaced a shortdistance from the adjacent portions of the flanges -2Q and 23 of thestake bracket 19- to form an intervening guide way -27 in nghich thelocking-member 21- is mova le.

This locking-member -21 preferably consists of two angle plates havingtwo of heir flanges secured flat-wise to each other to form asubstantially horizontal flange, the outer edge of which is tapered at28-, thereby forming a wedge-shaped member which engages the inner faceof the stake -20, the remaining flanges of the looking member 2l beingprojected in opposite directions in substantially the same verticalplane for engagement in the lower and upper guideways 27-.

The wedge-shaped key or locking member -21- is provided with a recess 29in its outer edge at the highest point of the cam-face 28- to form aseat for the stake 20- when the wedge is driven tightly in lace. The endof the key or looking memer -21 nearest the low point of the camface 28is provided with in-turned stop shoulders 30 for engagement with theadjacent edge of the guide plate 24 to prevent displacement of the keyfrom its guideways 27 and at the same time to allow sufiicient movementof the key for the complete release or retightening of the stake.

In installing this road-rail, the various sections are placed end to endalong the marginal edges of the road-bed and properly alined and set tograde, after which the stakes 20 are driven through the openings 19 inthe brackets -l8- and sufflciently deep into the ground to make a firmanchorage for the rail-section, after which the keys -21- are adjustedto tighten the rail to the stake.

As soon as the rail-sections are properly alined with each other, thecoupling plates -7 are adjusted to lock the adjacent ends of the severalplates to: each other against relative lateral or vertical movement,whereupon the rails will be properly set for receiving the concretebetween them, it being understood that by the reverse operation of alocking plate 7- and keys 28-, the rail-sections may be removed orstripped from the concrete -l one by one or in combinations if desired.

What I claim is:

A form for concrete pavement comprising a rail-section, a bracketsecured to said railsection and provided with a vertical openingelongated transversely, a stake passed through said opening and adaptedto be driven into the ground, a wedge-shaped looking key movable in thebracket transversely of and against the inner face of the stake forholding the stake and rail-section against relatively lateral movement,said locking member having a recess at the higher point of itswedge-face for registering with the stake to hold the locking memberagainst accidental displacement from its locking position.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 19th day of April,1921.

MARK S. HOTCHKISS.

Witnesses:

HARRY A. ZETTER, HENRY G. HARDEN.

